We are already familiar with protective clothing used by fishermen, sportsmen, or the emergency services when travelling on water. These garments are generally made from a waterproof material. In order to protect the user as much as possible, there exists protective clothing known as “waders”, which take the form of overalls that include trousers and a front and rear trunk protector held on with braces. The trunk panels are located on the chest area of the user, more or less up to the level of the armpits. This garment can include built-in boots. It protects its user as long as the latter is not submerged accidentally in the water or other liquid element. In fact, in the event of a fall or loss of footing by the user, or in the event of a sudden increase in the height of the water, the water will enter inside the protective garment via the upper part of the trunk protection. In the event of an extended loss of footing, and in particular if the user is unconscious, the action of the hydrodynamic forces can frustrate all attempts at swimming that could restore the person to a vertical position and keep him afloat, thus causing the user to drown.
In order to remedy these drawbacks, protective clothing that includes floating resources have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,465,375 describes a safety garment for fishing, in the form of overalls that include a rubber strip inside of the trunk part forming an airbag with the trunk garment, and which inflates to form a waterproof joint between the body of the fisherman and the end of the trunk garment, preventing the water from entering inside in the garment. The inflated airbag also acts as a float. However, with the airbag inflating inside the garment, the float occupies a very limited space which is not adequate to guarantee the stability of the user in water. Moreover, the airbag, once inflated, presses onto the ribcage of the user in order to create the seal, and this hampers the breathing of the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,744 describes a protective garment in the form of overalls that include, at the level of the trunk garment, an airbag that is more or less flat when it is not inflated, and forming a an annular float when it is inflated, similar to a lifebuoy. This system only prevents the person from sinking. The drawbacks of this system are the same as those encountered with a lifebuoy. Firstly, the effective area presented by the float when inflated is limited by the height of the uninflated airbag surrounding the trunk garment. As a consequence, the inflated volume does not support the head of the user and does not guarantee that the head will be held out of the water. Secondly, the weight of the body pressing onto the inflated airbag deforms it at the level of the support area, resulting in movement of the gas volume distribution into the zone opposite to the support area. This displacement of volume can cause dynamic instability and can unbalance the user. The risk is then that the head of the user is not held out of the water. In particular, if the user is unconscious, he is unable to turn, and will drown, since his respiratory tract is not held clear.